Worth
by Sileny
Summary: The Donkarasu inside of him was flapping its wings and putting on its mating display every single time he saw her. If only he could prove to her that he was The One; that he was worth it. Ikarishipping; One-sided Pearl. T for safety


**Worth**  
By Sileny

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_**Summary: **_The Donkarasu inside of him was flapping its wings and putting on its mating display every single time he saw her. If only he could prove to her that he was The One; that he was worth it. Ikarishipping; One-sided Pearl_**  
Disclaimer:**_ Omnomnom… I own the omelets I just made! :3  
_**Notes:**_ All names in Japanese (except for attacks). Shinji always did sound better than Paul, in a way. If you don't know them you can always google it, although I'll add first-appearances with their translations at the bottom of each chapter. :)

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_**Prologue**_

"Sky Attack! Go faster!" Shinji commanded from his position on the ground, watching as his bird Pokémon perform the commanded attack, swooping up into the air, wheeling and then plunging towards the ground, body surrounded by the white wisps that classified a successful Sky Attack. It smashed straight into the target that Shinji had set up a little ways away, breaking it neatly into multiple pieces. A tiny nod came from the violet-haired Trainer; Donkarasu's Sky Attack was getting faster and there was definitely a lot more power in it the more he drilled it, but Shinji knew that if he wanted to be the best, it would need more work. Unfortunately, a sudden rumbling of thunder and a torrent of rain ended his plans for more training, and instead he resigned himself to calling it back to its ball and heading back to the Pokémon Center. He'd squeeze in a few extra hours after the rain ended to make up for the loss of time. It was better to do that than to risk getting ill and having to take more time off to get better. Shinji had trained once while he was sick, regretting it shortly afterwards due to his inability to function properly due to the delirium that his fever had brought on. It had earned him a severe scolding from Nurse Joi and what training he had attempted to do had ended up being useless.

Shinji did not like having his efforts prove to be useless.

"Your Donkarasu is all set!" Nurse Joi's cheerful voice chimed an hour later, after Shinji had left it with her and gone to his room to shower and change into a set of dry clothes. Donkarasu was standing besides the nurse, the white feathers on its breast gleaming with health.

It waddled up to its Trainer as Shinji bowed to the nurse, thanking her, before returning it to its Pokéball. Buying a drink from the nearby vending machine, he found himself a table by the window and pulled out his book, intent on finally finishing the work of literature. It had been thoughtful of Reiji to slip the book into Shinji's bag right before he left the house; Shinji really did like to read and this book was his favorite. He would happily read it again and again without complaint.

A rare smile graced his face as he flipped the page, continuing on the journey of the protagonist, obsidian eyes twinkling as they followed the lines of words, like they had since he was a child.

He was brought out of his reading sanctuary by a great chattering of cheerful voices. Typical scowl replacing the smile, his head lifted and he turned to face the source of the loud commotion. His eyes widened, though, when he found himself facing the trio of annoying travelling Trainers, the idiot Satoshi, the semi-tolerable Breeder Takeshi, and the Pokémon Coordinator Hikari.

Shinji's eyes rested on Hikari, who was laughing with her friends as her Pochama bounced around at her feet. She was as loud as ever; he could hear everything she said clearly even from the other side of the Pokémon Center. Hikari still had on her happy-go-lucky smile, acting like she had not a care in the world. Shinji wondered how such a thing was even possible.

"Oh? Look, Satoshi, it's Shinji." She had seen him, and was now tugging on Satoshi's sleeve, directing his attention towards the stoic violet-haired boy. Satoshi turned towards him, wearing a bright smile like only that idiot could wear, waving cheerily before all three of them moved towards his table.

"Hey, Shinji!" Satoshi called cheerily, "Fancy seeing you here! How's your training going?"

Shinji looked not in the least bit impressed. "What's it matter to you?" he asked coldly, and Hikari planted her hands on her hips almost instantly, giving him a death glare.

"You rude _jerk_!" she snapped at him. "Haven't you ever heard of being a gentleman? Or possessing manners? Or possibly even having some etiquette?" Shinji felt that it would be a waste of his breath to say to her that manners and etiquette was essentially the same thing. But none the less, she continued to berate him, even going as far as to wag her finger dangerously close to his face. "I don't see how your Pokémon can follow you at all, what with your filthy attitude. You're so unlikeable the very thought is amazing."

Shinji stood, shutting his book with a louder snap than what he knew was absolutely necessary. There was no chance to read when that annoying girl was screeching in his ear like that. "It's not a matter of like or dislike. Since they're mine, they'll follow me whether or not I'm agreeable. Besides, Pokémon follow a Trainer to grow stronger, and that's what mine do." He gave her a customary glare before turning away. "Now if you'll excuse me; I'll be going."

"Not yet you don't!" Hikari screeched, and the next thing Shinji knew, her hand was clamped onto his wrist with much more strength than he had originally thought she had possessed. "Apologize right now to Satoshi!" she cried, looking absolutely furious. He blinked, stunned at her rashness and the fact that she hadn't backed down yet. His glare was bad enough to scare off even the biggest annoyances, so the fact that this seemingly delicate girl (although Shinji had great reason to believe that that delicacy was simply just an act) was standing there, hand clamped like a vice on his wrist with the sternest look on her face was rather surprising to him.

And then, the Donkarasu deep within him started moving, opening its eyes and standing up in its nest that was his soul. It stretched up, head held high in the air and wings stretched wide, before beating them rapidly, harshly, showing off the bright colorations on those wings.

And for the briefest moments, breathing became difficult for him to do, as he stood there, looking over his shoulder into the bluest eyes he had ever seen in his life.

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_Shinji:_ Paul  
_Donkarasu:_ Honchkrow  
_Joi:_ Joy  
_Hikari:_ Dawn  
_Satoshi:_ Ash  
_Takeshi:_ Brock  
_Reiji:_ Reggie  
_Pochama:_ Piplup

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A/N: I should stop doing this to myself... I have other fics to finish that I'm currently lagging behind on *coughwritersblockcough* *flails* But since my traitorous mind has recently reactivated my Pokemon craze and I've discovered Ikarishipping (which I like much more than Pearl), I couldn't help it. ^^; Bad Sileny. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad Sileny.

I also have a feeling that I should have chosen a different Pokemon for inner Shinji in order to better distinguish between that and his actual one, but I wanted it to be a bird (they have impressive displays, you have to admit) and Donkarasu naturally came to mind. I think it's because it's the Big Boss Pokemon. I'll just have to make the division very clear, I guess. ^_^

So... review, please? Click the little green review button... look at it, isn't it pretty? XD


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